Sinclair Spotlight: Best Road to Their Future

Facebook Story Recalls Origins of a Sinclair Romance, 19 Happy Years Later

The irony is fairly rich. Rhonda Beckham was taking a class at Sinclair called “Effective Speaking.” The class was in its last meeting before the end of the quarter. And it was only then, after weeks of being in the same room together, that the fellow student who would become the most important person in her life first spoke directly to her.

That was 22 years ago, a period of time she has some confidence in because of the significance attached to it. It was the first true conversation between her and the man who would later become her husband, Dr. Julius Elmore Beckham. They have just celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary, an occasion she marked on Facebook last year and shared again on their anniversary this year, with an eloquent, extended testimonial to the qualities that have allowed their relationship to endure.

The story of how the Beckhams came to find each other is really also one of those stories that reflects Sinclair’s legacy within the Dayton community. For almost 130 years, people have been coming to Sinclair College to learn. You go into class never knowing what you might discover. There’s the subject matter being taught, but there’s also the relationships that are formed.

Rhonda Beckham at the time was in Sinclair’s Industrial Engineering Technology program, working during the day and studying at night, all the while caring for her toddler daughter, C’ierra. Her husband-to-be crossed paths with her only because he was working on his master’s degree at the time at the University of Dayton, and was looking for a cheaper option on a class he needed which could be taken at Sinclair.

As she recalls, she had just gotten a shorter haircut, similar to the style made popular at the time by the actress Angela Bassett, and that drew his attention during that final class. Once they started talking, she says, a day hasn’t passed when the conversation hasn’t continued, a fact where a bit more irony can be found, considering they both grew up in Dayton in close proximity to each other and had mutual friends, but had never met until that class.

Both have gone on to enjoy considerable success, personally and professionally. After graduating from Sinclair, Rhonda earned her bachelor’s degree from Capella University (after spending a few years as a transfer student at the University of Dayton through Sinclair’s parallel program) and completed three years of evening classes at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University (she plans to go back and finish that degree when she retires). She worked for many years at Reynolds and Reynolds and for the last five years, for the Huffy Corporation, where she currently serves as the Manager of Product Licensing. Her husband finished off his graduate degree and later his PhD from Miami University, and currently serves as the Assistant Director of Special Services for Huber Heights City Schools.

Rhonda says it is not just her wedding anniversary that brings back pleasant thoughts of Sinclair.

I had an awesome experience there. It provided me with a great foundation. I went to law school, and that foundation really kept working for me. Through LinkedIn, I am still connected to some of the professors I had at Sinclair. They were some of the best teachers I ever had," she said, mentioning R.C. Caldwell and Reginald Tomas Lee, both former faculty members now in the business world. "They were very supportive of me as a minority in Engineering.

The Beckhams have one more aspect to their story which ensures they will never forget the place that brought them together. A couple of years after they were married, another addition joined their family, a daughter who is now 17. They settled on the name Noah for her. Full name: Noah Sinclair Beckham. The school where a family first took shape now has a permanent presence in their family history for decades to come.

To see Rhonda Beckham’s full Facebook post on her anniversary, click here.

For details on study options today between Sinclair and the University of Dayton, learn more about the new UD Sinclair Academy.